SAFETY improvements are to be made to two key Cumbrian roads with £9.4 million of funding allocated by the Department for Transport (DfT).

The money will be spent on the A684, which runs from Kendal through Garsdale and Hawes, and the A592 between Rheged and Windermere.

The funding is part of the DfT's Safer Roads Fund – through which central government, working with the Road Safety Foundation, identified the top 50 most dangerous roads in the UK and invited local authorities to propose schemes for them.

Announcing the news at a meeting of Cumbria County Council's Cabinet, Cllr Keith Little, Member for Transport, said: “This is good news for Cumbria and I am pleased that we have been successful in securing this additional funding to make two of our key roads much safer," he said.

"Not only does it mean improved safety on the A684 and the A592 but it also shows that the DfT is confident in our ability to carry out large scale highways improvement schemes.

“Whilst Cumbria welcomes investment in road safety we know that we have other roads in our county that still require significant investment to make them safe. 

"We made it clear to government that based on our data around the number of people that are killed and seriously injured that the A595 was a top priority for us and we will continue to work with the DfT and lobby government for investment to make this road safer for the people who use it.”